THE biggest development ever built in Wantage and Grove is being held up at the 11th hour because one landowner is holding out for more money, it is claimed. The district council is now talking about using a compulsory purchase order to force the
A TROLLEY full of books has been donated to a children’s reading charity thanks to a Bicester superstore. Sainsbury’s in Pioneer Square has donated dozens of books to ARCh (Assisted reading for children in Oxfordshire) as part of a national project
PLANS for up to 190 new homes at Wolvercote’s former paper mill site were approved tonight. Permission for the redevelopment of the site off Mill Road was given to Oxford University by Oxford City Council’s west area planning committee. The
DRIVING conditions in winter can be treacherous - so Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service has these top tips for when the weather turns bad. Station manager Mick Clarke said: "Follow them to stop yourself coming unstuck this winter; let’s keep the
JUST hours before they went on stage in front of an audience of friends, family and members of the public these schoolchildren put the final touches to their performance. They are among 500 taking part in this year's Big Christmas Sing, which will
TABLES groaning with food, beaming smiles and chinking glasses, it was plain to see how the festive feast laid out before them had delighted these older people on Sunday. Hundreds tucked into turkey and all the trimmings for Oxfordshire’s annual
NUCLEAR scientists at Harwell staged a walk-out today over a pay dispute. The decommissioning experts at Magnox Limited are striking because they claim they could be paid differently to employees at the firm's other sites. Union bosses claimed
YOUNGSTERS shaved the best for last when things got hairy at the Ashmolean Museum on Saturday. When men around the country marked Movember by growing their whiskers the Beaumont Street museum opened its doors to provide children with moustache-inspired
NINETEEN shops and businesses in Witney are set to join police this week to launch a new "safe places" scheme. The project is aimed at helping vulnerable people such those with dementia, learning disablities or menal health needs, and will offer
THE developer behind Bicester Retail Park plans has lodged an appeal against it being rejected after an outcry from town residents. Last month Cherwell District councillors refused outline planning permission to Consolidated Property for six new
PEOPLE dealing with stress, anxiety, depression or eating disorders were given the chance to get up close and personal with a herd of horses. Hopethruhorses threw open the gates of its paddock to give more than 60 people the chance to meet its
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Drivers are facing delays today through Frideswide Square in Oxford today due to temporary traffic lights. The lights have been set up either side of the Botley Road rail bridge as the £5.8m scheme to revamp the square continues. The revamp
Open University staff at a regional centre in Boars Hill, Oxford, will go on strike tomorrow following university’s decision to push ahead with regional centre closures. Members of the University and College Union (UCU) at the Oxford Open University
A DOCTOR based in Didcot is braving the boxing ring to help fight the stigma of mental illness. Psychiatrist Andrew Molodynski will slug it out at South Moreton Boxing Club in a charity bout to raise funds for the charity Restore. The father-of-two
A popular open space in Faringdon has been designated a town green, protecting it from future developers. Yesterday county councillors at a planning committee agreed that Humpty Hill should be registered as a town green. The application was
NORTH Hinksey Parish Council has made clear its strong opposition to proposed county council budget cuts in services supporting vulnerable children and adults through submissions to the current county council consultations. We are appalled by the
I READ with some disbelief that one of the ideas that has been suggested to ease the bedblocking is to place patients in care homes. I would urge that this suggestion is shelved as putting recently discharged patients in care homes will probably
THE climate change talks in Paris are a once-in-a-lifetime chance to stop our planet over-heating. It will be a tragic disaster if back-sliding by the British Government and others leads to failure at this crucial conference. Oxford City has joined
WE ARE writing to you as members of the Oxford Friends Action on Poverty (OxFAP) committee. Thanks to the generosity of Oxford and Headington Quakers, we give grants for small things that will make a difference in helping people experiencing poverty
NETWORK Rail is proposing to the council planners that the acoustic barriers to be installed in Upper Wolvercote should be much less effective on the western side of the track (St Peter’s and Ulfgar Roads) compared to the eastern side (Blenheim Drive
A BRIEF glance at the photograph illustrating your article on the problem bus bays in the new layout for Frideswide Square shows to anyone with an iota of common sense that the entrance and exit angles are much too acute; notwithstanding whether or
A month-long Christmas campaign to target drink-drivers has been launched by Thames Valley Police. The ‘Where will you end up tonight?’ campaign, which carries the hard-hitting theme of a mortuary to emphasise the potentially fatal consequences
BROLLIES, sleeping bags and tents were out in force today as students braved wind and rain to bag the best rental properties. Up to 60 have been queuing outside property agent Finders Keepers’ St Clements offices since early Sunday morning.
A doctor said to hold a minority view on shaken baby syndrome has told a disciplinary panel that "many more" clinicians privately agree with her. Dr Waney Squier is accused of bias while acting as an expert witness in a number of alleged shaken
Liz Greenhalgh Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford Last month an exceptional event took place in Oxford. The UK Parliament’s Science and Technology Select Committee held a special meeting in the
At our bike shop in Jericho we have been busy trying to find some new staff. In the past the process of finding new staff has been a relatively painless process. Luckily the bike industry is an incestuous community and people easily move around in
A YARNTON care home worker will find out this week if she is to be honoured for going beyond the call of duty. Vanessa Howkins, who has worked at Yarnton Residential and Nursing Home since it opened four years ago, has been shortlisted for the
IT WAS quite a week for shocks in Round Three of the Oxfordshire Winter Quiz Leagues. Unbeaten since mid-May, the Green Road Club (Kidlington) would have really fancied their chances of extending this run as they lined up for their home encounter
CHRIS Maguire says the prospect of working with Michael Appleton again meant Oxford United were the only Sky Bet League Two club he would have considered joining. The striker, who has two senior caps for Scotland, turned down interest from clubs
A man has been arrested after a woman was sexually assaulted in St Aldates, Oxford. Police said the 18-year-old victim was at McCoys kebab van at about 4am on Sunday when a man touched her inappropriately. The offender was described as Asian
AN Oxford University student who told a teenager in a nightclub he wanted to assault and rape her was just making a joke inspired by Fifty Shades of Grey, a court heard. Jack Fitzsimons, who used to work for US space agency NASA, was given a conditional
HOW would you feel if 33 million people watched a video of you being tricked on the internet? It happened to Sarah Evans and she has never been happier. The 31-year-old from Oxford was one of eight Adele impersonators tricked into performing
SPORTSMAN OF YEAR Winner: Jack Brooks (cricket). Runners-up: Zac Payne (cycle speedway) & Bradley Smith (MotoGP). SPORTSWOMAN OF YEAR Winner: Demi Lambourne (football). Runners-up: Nichola Simpson (archery) & Izzy Taylor (equestrian
JACK Brooks and Demi Lambourne could not hide their joy after landing top honours at this year's awards ceremony. Yorkshire cricketer Brooks and Oxford United Women's goalkeeper Lambourne won the sportsman and sportswoman of the year accolades
OXFORD Hawks bounced back from their defeat at Banbury in South League Premier Division 1 by beating table-topping Old Georgians 3-2 at home. Mat Wood scored twice from open play as Hawks went into the break 2-1 up, Nick Cooper scoring for Georgians
OXFORD Hawks Ladies lost 6-2 at Trojans in Conference West, Lucy Millington and Lucy Steward getting their goals. Oxford conceded from a late corner as they lost 2-1 at Brighton & Hove in South Clubs League Division 2. Kim Haynes gave Oxford
A campaign urging people not to give cash to beggars has been relaunched today by Oxford City Council. First launched in 2012, the Killing with Kindness campaign reminds people that giving money to beggars can sustain their life on the streets.
PEOPLE in Headington fear they may be unable to access their homes by car for weeks at a time after health bosses revealed the full extent of their plans for an inter-hospital heating pipe. Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust wants
BROLLIES, sleeping bags and tents were out in force today as students braved wind and rain to bag the best rental properties. Up to 60 have been queueing outside property agent Finders Keepers’ St Clements offices since early Sunday morning.
GARY Dent admitted he did not overly enjoy his moment in the spotlight after landing the unsung hero award. The Oxford City Stars ice hockey stalwart, involved in the club for more than 30 years, has taken on every role imaginable, and also played
THE most stunned winner of the night was Oxfordshire cricket coach Rupert Evans, who picked up the special recognition award. The honour, won last year by Sir Roger Bannister, is presented by the Oxford Mail and BBC Radio Oxford to someone whose
JADE O’Dowda was honoured to win the junior sportsperson of the year award. The most competitive category of the evening saw a shortlist of four go for glory, such was the exceptional talent of the nominees. The Oxford City heptathlete came
A VICTORY at the last hole saw Oxford Ladies finish third in the finals of the Mail on Sunday Classic at El Rompido in Spain. It was a thrilling finish to a close match against Accrington & District, but sealed a 3½-1½ win to kickstart celebrations
A 43-YEAR-OLD man who made more than 24,000 indecent images of children has been jailed for three years. Wai Tse appeared at Oxford Crown Court yesterday to be sentenced for seven counts of making indecent photographs of children, one count of
MAXIMUM man Ade Larner’s excellent form continued, but his three 180s could not stop Carterton SC losing 6-3 at Kidlington Green SC. There were treble 20s galore in the Greene King ODDA Winter League allPremier Section clash. Dave Fowler and
WHEN David Hunt walks into the first day of his job as manager of the new Rose Hill community centre today he will start putting the finishing touches to the building before it opens next month. But the 31-year-old has bigger plans for the Ashhurst
HENLEY Hawks were made to pay for a poor first half at Coventry as they went down 29-15 to suffer a sixth straight league defeat. The hosts took the lead on seven minutes in the National League 1 encounter when George Oliver went over for a converted
OXFORD Harlequins extended their unbeaten run to four games as they beat Swindon 22-0 in South West 1 East. A Jack Robinson penalty and Jack Crowe’s unconverted try gave them an 8-0 lead after 25 minutes. And it was 15-0 when Adam Neal drove
RAF war planes are gearing up to launch air strikes on Syria after David Cameron announced that he was ready to seek the green light from Parliament to attack Islamic State (IS) militants in their heartland. It is thought the first bombing missions
THERE was traffic chaos around Oxford today after a lorry crash snarled up the A34 and work at Frideswide Square caused gridlock in the city centre. Drivers faced long delays on the A34 between Hinksey Hill and Lodge Hill after an articulated lorry
THEY say every journey in life begins with a single step – but in this case it started with a tango. Former social worker Aseem Bandali on Saturday began his 80-day trip to dance his way to South America, the birthplace of his favourite kind of
A COMMUNITY has dug deep to raise £65,000 for the revamp of a nursery in Cumnor. Five years ago Cumnor Pre-School Nursery was promised a rebuild worth £300,000, but due to government cuts the plans were scrapped. Undeterred, the community took
Strike action by thousands of junior doctors has been suspended but the decision came too late for thousands of patients whose operations and appointments had already been cancelled. A survey of almost 20 NHS trusts has revealed around 600 operations
ROBIN Cooke scored a try on his debut as Banbury booked their place in the third round of the RFU Intermediate Cup with a 10-3 victory over Camp Hill. Bulls made four changes from the side that beat Leamington in Midlands 2 West (South) the previous
THE gun has been fired for next year’s Oxford Mail OX5 Run. Organisers have announced that the five-mile fundraiser at Blenheim Palace will get under way on Sunday, April 17. Online registration has already opened and runners can now sign up
A MAN who escaped from a harrowing ordeal at the hands of a “physically and emotionally abusive” wife has told of his battle to heal the trauma he suffered. The 30-year-old from Oxfordshire spoke out as the charity Victim Support revealed it was desperate
AN EAST Oxford church plunged parishioners into darkness then asked them to sing Christmas carols at an unusual Advent Sunday service. Some 50 unsuspecting locals turned up to sing rousing carols at SS Mary and John Church on Cowley Road on Sunday
A FAMILY has called on people to support this year’s Spirit of Christmas event in Oxford. The annual musical evening – in aid of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign – is set to take place on Wednesday, December 16. In the past it has raised thousands
